Bundesliga: Babbel off to a flyer with Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart beat Schalke 2-0 on Sunday to give Markus Babbel a great start to his new career as a Bundesliga coach.

Babbel assumed the Stuttgart job after Armin Veh's sacking
last weekend and he was punching the air in delight when Jan
Simak ran on to a hopeful long ball and lobbed it over the
keeper and into the top right-hand corner for the 80th minute
opener.

Mario Gomez finished off another swift break a few minutes
from time to secure Stuttgart's first win in six league games.

Hamburg SV lost further ground in the race for Champions
League places when they were lucky to get a 1-1 draw at Bochum,
while Borussia Dortmund were held to a goalless draw at home to
VfL Wolfsburg.

With 15 matches played, and two to go before the long
mid-season break, Hoffenheim lead with 34 points after a 3-0 win
at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.

Hoffenheim's next match is away to champions Bayern Munich,
who climbed to second on 31 points with a 2-0 win away to Bayer
Leverkusen. Hertha Berlin are third on 30 following their 2-1
win at home to Cologne on Friday.

Hamburg's failure to beat Bochum leaves them fifth on 27
points, while Dortmund are sixth on 25 and Schalke 04 are ninth
with 23.

Stuttgart remain down in 10th place on 21 but they will look
forward to the second half of the season with more optimism
after gaining reward for a gritty display against Schalke.

"It was a very nervy win," win said Babbel, the former
Germany defender who retired as a player after a career that
took in Bayern Munich, Hamburg, Liverpool and Stuttgart.

"We were unsettled in the first half but we improved after
the break and took our chances."

Schalke should have taken the lead in the first half when
Kevin Kuranyi won a penalty but Jefferson Farfan's effort was
well saved by Jens Lehmann, low to his left.

Stuttgart took control in the second half and Mario Gomez
wasted three good chances before Simak's eye-catching strike set
them on their way to a deserved win.